Shipwreck of SS Gairsoppa reveals £150m silver haul

[dipsydoodle]

Source: BBC News

A shipwreck containing 200 tonnes of silver worth £150m has been discovered in the Atlantic - the largest haul of precious metal ever found at sea.

The SS Gairsoppa, a UK cargo ship sunk by a German U-boat in 1941, was found by US exploration firm Odyssey Marine.

The firm will retain 80% of the cargo's value under the terms of a contract with the Department for Transport.

Only one person from the 85-strong crew survived the torpedo attack as the ageing steamer tried to reach Ireland.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15061868

[Demeter]

1. JP Morgan is Saved!

[avaistheone1]

5. how so?

[Demeter]

6. You will be sorry you asked...

From December last year:

J.P. Morgan Getting Squeezed In Silver Market?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/12/06/benzinga668905.DTL

(basically, JP Morgan has sold more silver than it owns on contracts known as "short sales" and will eventually have to buy the contracts back or hand over the silver)

(Oh, and it hasn't blown up, yet) see also:

Water, Meet Blood - JP Morgan Admits To, Reduces Massive Silver Short Position, Proves Millions Of Conspiracy Theorists Correct

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/jp-morgan-admits-defeat-cuts-silver-short-position-proves-millions-conspiracy-theorists-abso

Identities of JP Morgan Silver Manipulators Exposed from last week:

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2011/9/16_Identities_of_JP_Morgan_Silver_Manipulators_Exposed.html

and from today:

JP Morgan's Silver Shorts (subtitle: naked bear)

http://www.marketwatch.com/Community/groups/small-silver-investor/topics/jp-morgans-silver-shorts-subtitle

WARNING: THERE ARE OCCASIONAL SILVER-SHORT DENIERS...BUT NONE OF THEM ARE FROM JPMORGAN....

[xchrom]

2. Damn it! I am never in the right place at the right time.

People stripping to their underwear & running in Salt Lake City & now this.

Bah!

[ret5hd]

3. So change your name to Neutrino.

[Historic NY]

4. What luck right side up cargo holds open.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

7. So 84 brave veterans get their grave plundered. Disgusting! n/t

[Synicus Maximus]

9. So the silver should just be left there?

[Joe Shlabotnik]

10. yes

there used to be laws about plundering war graves. It is downright disrespectful and profiteering on the backs of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

[JustAmused]

14. You are kidding right??

You just set a record. I don't think I have ever ignored anyone quite so quickly. I suppose your basic persona just shone right through your post.
To paraphrase a song...Goodbye Joe, you gotta go

[dipsydoodle]

15. me oh my oh

:) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnKOVPXhlnE

[ileus]

8. more ship wreck slabbings?

Go ahead PCGS you know you want to. :)

[pitohui]

11. wow, no wonder silver price just crashed

thats a buttload of silver on the market, no wonder price went from $40 to $30

i was kicking myself for selling, now i'm glad!

[Art_from_Ark]

12. The silver itself hasn't even been located yet

much less retrieved. And there will be legal battles over ownership. So it will be a while before any silver that is recovered will come on the market.

[dipsydoodle]

13. No legal battle

Owned by the Treasury of the UK Government who struck the deal with Odyssey for recovery.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/26/atlantic-wreck-150m-silver-gairsoppa?newsfeed=true

[Art_from_Ark]

16. How can the UK government get to claim ownership?

Was it theirs to begin with? Also, it appears the wreck is in international waters, closer to Ireland than the UK.

[dipsydoodle]

17. Yes - the UK Gov has title - insurance related

Explanation here :

The GAIRSOPPA had started her final voyage in Calcutta. In addition to its cargo of pig iron, tea, and general cargo, she was reportedly carrying 3 million ounces of silver in the form of ingots. Presumably this was thought to be of most interest to salvors when a new policy of competitive tendering for the salvage of Government-owned wrecks and cargoes was introduced ; the GAIRSOPPA was the subject of the first such invitation to tender in the Autumn of 1989. Thought to lie at a depth of more than 6,000 feet its cargo may now be salvaged – if successfully located – by Odyssey Marine Exploration (associated with such shipwrecks as the 1641 Merchant Royal and 1744 HMS Victory). Odyssey were operating in the general area in November 2008 when, using their ROVs, they discovered the wrecks of the CAIRNHILL and LACONIA (carrying silver from the Americas), steamships that were sunk in 1917 off south-west Ireland. Odyssey made a claim for ownership, based on abandonment, but the UK's Transec / DfT counter-claimed as the vessels were covered by WW2 War Risks insurance and deemed to be the property of the Secretary of State for Transport.

Scroll down to "The SS GAIRSOPPA - sunk off Ireland in 1941 and now to be salvaged?" http://www.shipwrecks.uk.com/news.htm